3 Times
by Mikan-citrus fruits
Summary: You took my Amu! First you take her heart away from me, then her life!" Character death with a happy ending and a mysterious twist.
1. Chapter 1

Wow, this is my first totally emo fanfiction. Heh, it's cute at the end though. This will be a 2-3 shot.

Disclaimer:I don't own Shugo Chara or any other copyrighted material used.

Enjoy!

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**3 times**

3 times I had gone to see you.

3 times somebody was already there.

3 times my heart was broken

3 times I tried to forgive, but I could never forget.

Now I'm laying here, with sparkling crimson blood trickling from my wrists and throat, onto my wedding dress and into the water. I chuckle darkly and smile at the memories that brought me here, to the last few moments of my life. I had written them in detail on the paper I was reading for the hundredth time. My suicide note. My last goodbye.

_1__st__ time: December 1__st__. Heh, how ironic. It was Ikuto's birthday and our 3 year anniversary. I had gone out early to get last minute preparations done. When I arrived at his house around noon, an hour earlier than we agreed, I let myself in. I heard noise coming from Ikuto's room, so I figured he had to be in there. When I approached the door, I heard a woman's voice and thought it was Utau- until the voice moaned loudly. I flung the door open and caught Ikuto fingering Yamabuki Saaya. I broke down sobbing right there in the doorway and fainted. When I came to, he apologized and said he didn't know what he was doing. That the only one he could love was me. He looked sincerely worried and sorry, so I forgave him. That was the first mistake I made._

_2__nd__ time: February 18__th__ around 9 at night. This time I just happened to pass by his car in the McDonalds parking lot after getting a Mcflurry. I was going to ask what he was doing here so late, but that changed when I looked through the slightly steamed up windows. I couldn't control myself this time, so I punched the window out. The blood ran down my arm at the same pace the tears streamed down my face. I yelled every swear word I knew at the two. What made this one worse is that the girl was a close friend; Lulu De Morcerf. Sure we had our differences in the past, but we had grown so close! As my words turned into shrieks of pain, anger and sadness, a police officer intervened. The next day, I woke up in the hospital with stitches in my hand and Ikuto laying next to me. He assured me that he was tricked into it. That he really loved me. That the ring he had given me a month before wasn't a joke. He begged for my forgiveness. He had proposed, so it showed his commitment towards me. I had to forgive him. I was tricked once again. _

_3__rd__ time: Yesterday, April 7__th__ A.K.A. THE DAY BEFORE OUR WEDDING! I showed up at his apartment while he was at work and set up a romantic atmosphere around his room; vanilla scented candles, jazz music, rose petals on the bed. Every romantic thing you could think of was there. When I finished my 'redecorating' I changed into sexy lavender lingerie and lay down on his bed in what I thought was a seductive pose. A few minutes later, I heard the door shut downstairs and footsteps coming closer. Along with those footsteps, there were giggles- girly, preppy, disgusting giggles. My face blanched as I realized it was happening again. The door opened to reveal Ikuto making out with a girl who had her legs wrapped around his waist. They didn't even notice me there until I screamed and hurled my engagement ring at them. I continued screaming at the top of my lungs until my throat ran dry and I collapsed onto the ground. I gathered up enough strength to walk out of the room and tell Ikuto to fuck himself and that the wedding was off. "I have other plans now" I whispered over my shoulder. This joker has been fooled to many times. Now nobody will have the chance to fool me ever again. _

_Now that I have my story out of the way, I would like to say goodbye to the only people I loved: Mama, Papa, Ami, Yaya, Tadase, Kairi, Kukai, Rima, Utau and Nagihiko. Especially Nagihiko. He knew about all of this and helped me through it. Please understand it wasn't something any of you could prevent. My heart is broken beyond repair. _

Nagihiko crumpled the copy of Amu's note and cried, punching the wall a few times. His Amu, the love of his life, was gone forever. She was discovered earlier that morning in her apartment. She had been wearing her wedding dress in the bathtub when she slit her wrists and throat. The note was found on the bath ledge with a few blood stains on it.

Tadase had called for an emergency guardian meeting this afternoon, mostly for moral support. Everyone arrived with tears in their eyes. Utau also came with a bag of things Amu had left at her house. Nagihiko, Yaya and Rima had bags of Amu's belongings as well. They all cried and reminisced about good times with Amu, which brought them to the subject of Ikuto. Before long, they turned into some kind of 'I hate Tsukiyomi Ikuto' club.

"I am never letting that two-timing bastard come near me or my daughter again!" Utau announced. Kukai nodded in agreement with his wife. Many of them announced the violent things they wanted to do to Ikuto, but Nagihiko already had a plan that he was going to carry out after Amu's funeral.

A few days later, everybody met up again dressed in black. Each person went up to pay their respects. Amu's funeral was open-casket. The wounds were covered by her conservative red dress. Her vibrant pink hair was now a dull, washed-out coral color. A small smile played on her thin, grayed lips. Her closest friends and family each said something about her, voices cracking from the uncontrollable tears. A cobalt-haired killer sat at the back of the room with tears in his eyes. It almost made people feel bad for him. That is, until they remembered he was the one who killed her.

At the graveyard, each of the paul bearers and family members put a flower on Amu's casket before she was lowered into the ground. The headstone that had been set the day before read: _"All I want from life is to bring happiness to everyone." -Hinamori Amu, July 10, 2008 _

The words were from an interview with Amu when the mayor presented her with an award for her charity work. She never had a job. All of her time was spent at the soup kitchen and the orphanage. Her life was devoted to helping other people.

After Amu's funeral, Nagihiko went home to prepare for what he was going to do later that evening. At about 10:30 Nagihiko left the house after sticking a note on his desk. With him, he carried an old backpack filled with the necessary supplies.

Upon arriving at his destination, Nagihiko rung the doorbell and waited patiently for the owner of the flat. "We need to talk" He said to the older man.

"I'll get you some tea. Wait here." he said when they entered the living room. Nagihiko didn't plan on staying there at all. Instead, he unzipped the backpack and pulled out a long silver blade attached to a handle. The object resembled a small axe, but was a lot thinner. After examining the blade, he pulled out a pair of scissors, which he used to cut his precious hair until it just barely reached his chin, a tradition in his family indicating that he is near death. Next, he pulled out a white cloth, then stood up and crept silently to the kitchen. He silently walked behind Ikuto and, in mere seconds, the cloth was covering his mouth and the blade against his throat.

"You took my Amu away," Nagihiko hissed, his voice dripping with malice. "First, you take her heart away from me, then her life. Every time you hurt her, she ran crying to me, saying that it was her fault, that she did something wrong. You broke her heart when she was always faithful to you! I wasn't even allowed to fucking hug her unless it was a special occasion! It was all because of you! Damn bastard!" Hot tears ran down both of their faces, a mixture of terror, anger, and pain. "I'm going to make you suffer for what you did to Amu!" Nagihiko shrieked before pushing Ikuto down to the floor and slicing into the right side of his face. Ikuto let out small choking noises through the cloth. "God damn it! You killed Amu! Mother fucking bastard! Do you have a brain up there or did it migrate to your crotch?!" Nagihiko screamed as he stabbed Ikuto's arms a few times. He flipped him over and pressed the blade against his throat again. "I won't kill you. No, that would be letting you off easy. Instead, you'll live and suffer the rest of your life." He sliced a little through the throat, but it wasn't enough to kill. Instead, he pulled the cloth off of Ikuto's mouth and pointed the blade into his own chest. "I hope you live with this guilt for the rest of your life." Were his last words before shoving the blade through his chest and collapsing on top of Ikuto, who yelled something incomprehensible to the dying man.

"_W-where am I?" I asked myself. _

"_The same place everybody goes when they die" I could recognize that voice anywhere. It was like the tinkling of wind chimes mixed with the sound of bubbles popping. The owner of the voice held out a hand that I took hold of._

"_So… I'm dead?" I asked stupidly._

"_We prefer the term living impaired." She giggled, making me want to cry with happiness. "I'm kidding. Yes, you're dead." _

"_That's good. I couldn't live without you, Amu. I was going crazy down there!" I pulled her into a hug._

"_I know, I was watching you." She squeezed my shoulders lightly. "I had a sort of epiphany right before I died." _

"_What was it about?" I asked_

"_Well, I realized that only one person made me truly happy, and I loved _him, _not Ikuto. He was always by my side, cheering me up then cheering me on." She took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry I didn't realize this sooner, Nagihiko. I love you." She cupped my face in her hands and kissed me. It was like magic and fireworks. We pulled away panting._

"_I love you too. And I don't mind that it took you this long. We have all of eternity to make up for it." I held her hand as we watched our friends down below from our cloud._

"_I forgot to tell you something. Ikuto… he was… protecting me…"_

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CLIFFY! Hehehe! The next chapter will be Ikuto's side of the story.  
Please review. I want to know how I can improve, y'know? And I wanna know your opinions. So just click on the pretty button and go clickety-clack with your keyboard.  
PLUR!


	2. Chapter 2

I'm pretty sure you all hate me by now. Seriously. I forgot I was even writing this for a while, then I got a review and I was like "holy cow! I was writing another fanfiction?! Oh yeah..." then I wrote half of this chapter. Also, I've had finals, and I just moved, so sorry it took so long. (the second part also goes for stronger than fate.)

Disclaimer: I once thought I owned Shugo Chara, but when watermelons started calling me Fred, I realized it was a dream.

So, without further ado, here's the second and final chapter of 3 times.

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Chapter 2

I took in a shaky breath as another shooting pain ran up my back. I know it won't be long now. I guess those movies were right. You do think about your life before you die. Unfortunately, I could only think about the events leading up to Amu's death.

_2 years before Amu's death_

I clenched my fists and shook as I watched _my_ Amu walk out of that frou-frou Nagihiko's house at _8 in the morning_. For the third time this week. It was my 21st birthday and my 3 year anniversary with Amu. Last time I confronted her, she told me 'it's what best friends do.' Best friends my ass. I see the way he looks at her. And she told me years ago that Nadeshiko was her best friend. She's going to come over this afternoon so we can go to the same place she confessed to me in high school. If I know her, she'll probably get there about an hour early. I smirked as a plan for revenge formed in my head.

Later that day, I found myself in bed with Yamabuki Saaya, a girl who had envied Amu since elementary school, so she took very little convincing. I truly felt sorry when I saw Amu pass out on the floor. I think Yamabuki did too because a week later she was going to a different school. Amu also started distancing herself from Nagihiko. I think telling her my reason was a mistake… maybe.

Over a year passed by and our relationship slowly went back to the way it was before the incident. Now I'm in the same position I was in a year ago, only this time my shaking hands were holding a paper from the hospital. The paper told me I had a virus; AIDS, to be exact. Yamabuki had called me a few weeks earlier to confess to me that she had AIDS. I remembered that I split both of our lips when Amu came in. The next day I went in to get a bunch of tests done. I only got the test results today. Now I have to find a way to tell Amu. I can't do that though. She'll want to stay with me, to protect me. And I just proposed to her a week ago. I refuse to hurt Amu like that. Luckily, we had agreed to wait for sex until we were married, so she doesn't have to worry yet. But I know that she wants to have a big family- four kids and a dog- but I can't give her that! I would never put someone I love through the same pain that I'll have to go through. I can't just break up with her, either, because she'll cry and beg me to stay, something I can't resist. So… maybe I'll just make her break up with me.

A few weeks later, I found one of her friends, Lulu, and asked for her help. I chose her because she's close enough to Amu to know a lot of useful things about her schedule, but not as close as the guardians so she won't freak out at me.

One night, she showed up at my door and told me to get in the car. I already knew that it meant we were putting our plan in action. It was Amu's McDonalds day, the day she went and treated herself to something from the dessert menu. She's done it once a month since her third year in high school. Nobody really knows why.

When we arrived in the parking lot, I parked the car and turned the heater on, took off everything but my boxers and helped Lulu take of everything but her bra and panties. I positioned myself so it looked like we were doing something, and we started making noises to make it sound like something was going on.

We knew Amu was going to check the car, but what neither of us thought she would react the way she did. She punched the window and cut herself on the glass. I couldn't stand seeing her cry like that and watching the blood run down her arm.

The next day in the hospital, I apologized. I don't even know why I did it. I just couldn't stand to see her cry like that anymore.

But of course, she still had to break up with me. There were many other attempts, some even with guys so I could convince her I was gay, but she never caught me.

So as a last attempt, I brought a girl home the night before our wedding and made out with her all the way, knowing that Amu was in my bedroom. When she screamed and told me to fuck off and that the wedding was off, I smiled to myself then started crying. The random stranger left. Later that night, I thought about Amu and the words she said before leaving. _'I have other plans now' _what did she mean by that?

I was jolted awake when I remembered that she was diagnosed with clinical depression and bipolar disorder when she was thirteen. She was in counseling and on anti-depressants for three years. I looked over at my phone to check the time and noticed it was off. When I turned it on, I saw it was 9 o'clock in the morning and I had two missed calls and two voicemails. The first voicemail was from Tadase.

"_You sick bastard! How could you do this to Amu-chan? She loved you! Now she's gone forever! I fucking hate you!" _

The second one was from that Rima chick.

"_I hope you rot in hell for what you did to Amu! She wanted to live happily ever after with you and start a family. Her dream was to get married, get a golden retriever, have four children, and live in a two story house with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a big kitchen, and a chinchilla! You better hope they have chinchillas in heaven. Or else I'll shove this phone so far up your ass that you'll make calls whenever somebody pokes your cheek. Goodbye, ass-shat."_

Wow. That actually scared me a little. But now, I want to die. Damn it, I'm an idiot. I should have known this would happen.

The next few days were a blur of tears and threatening phone calls. I went to Amu's funeral and sat in the back so I didn't have to deal with dirty looks. That didn't really work though.

Later that night, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to see Nagihiko. I let him in and left to make tea. Before my brain could even process what was happening, I had a cloth covering my face and a blade at my throat.

"You took my Amu away," Nagihiko hissed, his voice dripping with malice. I was scared for my life.

"First, you take her heart away from me, then her life. Every time you hurt her, she ran crying to me, saying that it was her fault, that she did something wrong. You broke her heart when she was always faithful to you! I wasn't even allowed to fucking hug her unless it was a special occasion! It was all because of you! Damn bastard!" I was crying at this point, and I think he was too.

"I'm going to make you suffer for what you did to Amu!" Nagihiko shrieked before pushing me down on the ground and sliced through my cheek. I wanted to scream, but all I could manage was a sob. "God damn it! You killed Amu! Mother fucking bastard! Do you have a brain up there or did it migrate to your crotch?!" Nagihiko screamed as he stabbed my arms a few times. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to the pain I must have put Amu through. He flipped me over and pressed the blade against my throat again. _'Please kill me. I deserve it.' _I thought. "I won't kill you. No, that would be letting you off easy. Instead, you'll live and suffer the rest of your life." He said as if reading my mind. He then sliced a little through my throat, but it wasn't enough to kill. Instead, he pulled the cloth off of my mouth and pointed the blade into his own chest. "I hope you live with this guilt for the rest of your life." Were his last words before shoving the blade through his chest and collapsing on top of me.

"Idiot! Do you think she wants you to die?!" I shrieked to the dying man.

A few days later, I went to Nagihiko's funeral. Afterwards, I explained to everyone what exactly happened.

"I don't know if I should hate you, feel sorry for you, or thank you." Utau sobbed.

"Do what you want." I said before I walked away. That was the last day I saw my sister and the guardians. I moved to Italy a week later and started a new life there.

Now here I am, 33 years old and dying. I chose not to fight too hard against the virus. I don't have anyone to live for anymore. I refused to take any pain medication, and the only thing I let the hospital give me was a catheter and a ventilator. I've been in here for a week and I'm… finally… drifting… away…

"_Where am I?" I asked myself._

"_Why does everyone ask that question?" A familiar voice said._

"_Because it's pretty confusing, dear. One minute you're alive, and the next, you're here. Besides, _you _asked too." Another familiar voice responded to the first._

"_Who's there? Where are you?" I asked. There was a soft giggle._

"_We're right behind you, silly. And I hope you don't need us to tell you who we are." I turned around and my eyes widened and saw who it was._

"_Amu." I whispered._

"_Hello, I'm here too!" Nagihiko exclaimed. _

"_Sorry. I didn't notice you… So, what is this place?" I asked hesitantly._

"_It's a place where people who killed themselves or choose to die go to complete their lives in a happier way. It's like a second chance." Amu explained._

"_What about reincarnation?" I asked._

"_This is what we do before that happens. We can't be reincarnated for 100-200 years. But don't worry, time goes by fast here. It feels like the time between my death and yours was only a year." She clarified._

"_Okay then. So what do you mean by completing their lives? Like getting married and having kids, pets and a house? Or just continue existing?" I asked. Amu started looking a little uncomfortable, so Nagihiko took over._

"_Well, you can't exactly have children, but the marriage, pets and house thing is possible…" He said warily. What's going on with these two? And does that mean Amu and I can get married? I asked myself._

"_You two are acting weird. What's going on."_

"_Um, well, this is hard to say, but… Nagihiko and I are married." Amu said. _

"_Oh…" Was all I could say. Suddenly, I heard a little voice giggle behind me. _

"_Nii-chan!" The voice shouted and the girl jumped on my back. _

"_Kara!" I smiled and Kara slid off my back. I turned around and hugged her tightly. "I should have known you would be here!" _

"_Um…" I looked up from Kara's mess of blonde hair and saw Nagihiko and Amu with matching confused looks on their faces._

"_Oh, this is my little sister, Kara. She's actually Utau's twin." I explained._

"_Kara-chan! I knew you looked familiar!" Amu gasped._

"_Yeah. Sorry I never told you, nee-chan." Kara apologized._

"_You know each other?" I asked._

"_Yeah, she lives with us." Nagihiko said._

"_Yep! Nagi-nii and nee-chan take good care of me." Kara giggled._

"_Wait, what are you doing here? You died of cancer. And do you age?" I asked._

"_No, we don't age. And I overdosed on my pain medications because I couldn't stand all the pain of bone marrow transplants and chemo anymore." _

"_That explains why you still look and act like a 10 year old." I said. Then I remembered about Amu and Nagihiko. For some reason I didn't mind that they were married. I have a strange sense of calm and happiness all around me._

"_By the way, I don't mind that you two are married." I told them._

"_I told you so!" Kara exclaimed, then turned to me. "I told them when you started dying that you wouldn't care. Then we made bets on when you would die" _

"_Okay then!" Amu said loudly. "So, who wants to feed Elvis and Anya?" _

"_Elvis and Chewie?" I asked._

"_Chewie's our chinchilla and Elvis is our dog. Amu named them" Nagihiko rolled his eyes._

Through the years, a few friends joined them, but most of them went to the side where they go when they didn't choose to die or kill themselves. Each of them was reincarnated about 200 years later, and somehow found each other again. Though they had different names, they were just as connected as before. So connected, they came from different continents through a world war and met again in Japan, at the site where Seiyo elementary once stood. The place it all started.

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What'd you think? I kinda liked it.  
Just so ya know, those aren't actually my beliefs and I'm not trying to make any of you believe it either. So, yeah.  
R&R and I'll reward you with sweets.


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